


pictures at an exhibition

by Trillian_Astra



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: (sort of), M/M, Modern AU, Reincarnation AU, involves quite a few imaginary pieces of art
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-10
Updated: 2013-09-10
Packaged: 2017-12-26 05:41:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/962268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trillian_Astra/pseuds/Trillian_Astra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reincarnation AU... Grantaire has had many lives, and all of them have been artists of some kind, and a few of those artists have attained a little posthumous fame. </p><p>And all of those artists have spent a lot of time painting one specific face - Enjolras' face. They usually didn't know who he was, or why he was important, but they knew they needed to recreate him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	pictures at an exhibition

**Author's Note:**

> first, my Headcanon First Name for Enjolras is Alexandre. (it gets shortened to Alex here)
> 
> second, the title is taken from my second-favourite piece of classical music, "Pictures at an Exhibition" (Mussorgsky)

Unknown, _Sir Galahad_ (wood panel and paint, twelfth century )

An unusual piece, painted in the style of a religious icon representing a figure from Arthurian mythology rather than a saint or religious leader. Another reason that this piece is treasured is due to the unusual intensity of the figure’s expression – this ferocious Galahad is a far cry from the traditional, more peaceful conception of the character.

The creator of this piece is unidentified, though a stylised symbol in the lower right corner may in fact be a signature. Some texts attribute the piece to a monk named Athelstan, however this is unproven.

*             *             *

He hadn’t wanted to go to the rally. But he’d been dragged along by a friend, so he was sitting at the back of the hall and sketching idly. He wasn’t even sure what the rally was about.

“Hello,” a voice said.

He looked up. “Uh… hey…”

The person looking down at him was blond, and gorgeous, and was holding a clipboard. “Want to sign our petition?”

He swallowed. “What’s it for?”

*             *             *

Mathieu Guilbert, _The Archangel Michael Fighting A Dragon_ (oils on canvas, sixteenth century)

Anyone looking at this work can see that this relatively unknown artist possessed extraordinary talents. Unfortunately we know very little of Guilbert’s life, so we can only speculate what drove him to create such incredible pieces as _Archangel Michael_ and his other known pieces, _Leaving the Garden of Eden_ and _The Road to Damascus_.

*             *             *

“Remember when we met? You came to that rally and didn’t even know what it was for.”

“Yes,” Grantaire said, hunched over his sketchpad. “I remember. You spent the next three hours explaining  the need for intersectionality and equal representation. And now you’ve got me designing posters for you. How’s that?” he said, turning his pad around.

Enjolras nodded. “Great, R.”

“Good,” he said, stretching,  “because I’m starving, and I seem to remember something about being paid in dinner…”

“All right, all right…”

“And don’t think you’re getting away with a pizza and a six-pack, either.”

“Only the best for you,” Enjolras said with a grin.

*             *             *

Lorenzo Guerra, _Il_ _Protettore_ (marble statue, fifteenth century).

Guerra may not have captured the public’s imagination the way Michelangelo’s _David_ has, but this is an exquisite piece of sculpture and certainly deserving of critical attention, and it is unfortunate that so little of his work survived. There is a mystery surrounding the statue, regarding the symbol that is visible on the flag. Some have surmised that the symbol is Guerra’s signature, however this seems unlikely as it most resembles a large letter R.

*             *             *

“Hey,” he said, just as Enjolras walked through the door, with his messenger bag full of flyers over one shoulder and a swathe of cloth over the other. Enjolras smiled when he saw him, pulled him close and kissed him.

“You should have come, everyone loved your designs.”

“I needed to paint.”

“Obviously,” Enjolras said, touching a speck of paint on his face. “Can I at least see?”

“Not yet. It’s not quite done.”

“Well the rest is going to have to wait, because I’m taking you out. You need some fresh air.”

*             *             *

Arthur Radley, _Face/Male/Blond_ (mixed media, twentieth century)

Radley creates this portrait from abstract shapes but the effect is no less intense. The viewer feels transfixed by the figure’s gaze.

In an interesting aside, before his death Radley made it clear that each of his abstract portraits was of the same man, though he did not name the surely remarkable individual who inspired him.

*             *             *

Grantaire opened his eyes, saw the clock blinking 2:00 at him, and flopped back against the pillows, staring at the ceiling and listening to Enjolras’ breathing. Shifting over onto one side, he let his gaze rest on his features, taking note of the way the moonlight struck his face.

“Mmmm…” Enjolras opened his eyes and turned over. “I could feel someone looking at me,” he said sleepily.”

“You’re surprised? I can barely take my eyes off you.”

“You’re not so bad yourself.”

“I don’t turn heads like you do.”

Enjolras leaned over and kissed him. “You turned _my_ head, doesn’t that tell you something?”

*             *             *

Anne Kingdom, _The Soldier Returning_ (watercolours, seventeenth century)

Anne Kingdom,  daughter of a wealthy English landowner, had three older brothers.  The second of these – Thomas – has been identified as a possible model for the portrait. Certainly the figure in the portrait bears a resemblance to extant portraits of Anne, and the military uniform pictured is that of Thomas Kingdom’s regiment. However the portrait is not without controversy – there are those that claim the figure depicted is a lover of Anne’s, rather than her brother.

*             *             *

Grantaire walked up to the desk. “Uh, hi… I’m here to post bail for Alex Enjolras?”

The desk officer gave him a form to fill in, took the bail payment, and told him to wait. A few moments later Enjolras was walking out.

“You owe me at least three more dinners.”

“I’m glad to see you too, R. Thanks for bailing me out,” he said, kissing him on the cheek. “And I will gladly buy you all the dinners you want if it means you’ll eat properly.”

*             *             *

Rudolf Eckstein, _The Crusader_ (paint on board, fourteenth century.)

One of the earliest of Eckstein’s well-known Crusader series , this piece presents the image of a young knight in the Crusades. He wears the recognisable white surcoat with red cross, set off by the blood that – unusually for the period – is visible on his face and sword. This small reminder of the brutality of war serves as a counterpoint to the knight’s charmingly handsome features.

*             *             *

“I missed _one_ meeting! One! When was the last time you came to even one of my shows?”

“But you never seem to want me at your shows… half the time I only find out about them when you stumble home drunk afterwards.”

 “Maybe if you weren’t so focused on the Cause, you’d hear me when I tell you.”

“That’s not fair. You know that’s not fair. _We met at a rally_ , remember?”

Grantaire looked at him for a moment, then sat down heavily on the battered sofa and buried his face in his hands. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Alex.”

Enjolras swallowed. “Me too,” he said, sitting down next to him and awkwardly putting an arm around his shoulders. “I’m sorry. I should pay more attention to your art, I know that.”

*             *             *

Guillaume Berger, _Apollo Walking In A Field_ (paint on canvas, nineteenth century)

One of the most critically acclaimed pieces from a talented but relatively obscure French Impressionist, this painting (typically known simply as _Apollo_ ) is both a classic Impressionist painting and unusual for the movement. Berger uses his brush in the same way and takes a similar approach to colour, but the subject matter is far more symbolic than is typical. The central figure almost seems to glow out from the centre of the picture.

The figure is believed to have been drawn from life, however the notoriously private Berger provided no hints as to his model’s identity. There is the stylised symbol hidden in the brushstrokes that comprise part of the field, but this has not been deciphered.

*             *             *

“I know I was complaining about you not coming to my shows, but… are you sure about this?”

“Relax, R. I actually like art. And okay, maybe I was thinking that we could do things related to your interests more often.”

Grantaire smiled, almost despite himself. “Thanks. That means a lot.”

“Now… 15th century Venetian glass or French Impressionists?” Enjolras said, looking at the guidebook in his hand.

“Impressionists,” Grantaire said decisively, and they turned down the right-hand corridor.

They wandered from painting to painting for a while, reading from the guidebook and talking in low voices. Then Grantaire got hijacked by an elderly couple who wanted directions and had mistaken his white-shirt-black-trousers outfit for a guide’s uniform.

When he escaped the couple, he looked around and saw Enjolras in front of a large painting at the far end of the room, and hurried to his side.

“Ale-“ he started to say, before he saw his face.

*             *             *

Unknown, _Still Life_ (mixed media, 2013)

A young man staring up at a painting. His expression is one of awe. The picture depicts a very similar young man in the act of striding across a field.

*             *             *

“Alex?” he says.

Enjolras turns, slowly, and smiles at him.

Grantaire looks from the painting, to the actual young man in front of him, and he sees no difference. Enjolras closes the few feet between them and kisses him, and he feels… _right_.

 

 


End file.
